Dallin H. Oaks

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox Latter Day Saint biography

Dallin Harris Oaks (born August 12, 1932) is an American religious leader and former jurist who is the 18th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served as the first counselor in the church's First Presidency from 2018 to 2025. He was called as a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984.

Oaks was born in Provo, Utah, and grew up in Provo and Vernal, Utah. He studied accounting at Brigham Young University (BYU), then attended law school at the University of Chicago, where he was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. After graduating in 1957, Oaks was a law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court, then spent three years in private practice at Kirkland & Ellis before returning to the University of Chicago as a professor of law. In 1971, Oaks succeeded Ernest L. Wilkinson as the president of BYU. He held the position until 1980, when he was appointed to be a justice of the Utah Supreme Court. He served on the court until his selection to the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1984.

During his professional career, Oaks was twice considered by the President of the United States for nomination to the United States Supreme Court: first in 1975 by Gerald Ford, who ultimately nominated John Paul Stevens, and again in 1981 by Ronald Reagan, who ultimately nominated Sandra Day O'Connor.<ref name="auto">Yalof, David Alistair. Pursuit of Justices: Presidential Politics and the Selection of Supreme Court Justices (2001), p. 127-128.</ref><ref name="auto1">Template:Citation</ref>

Early life

Oaks was born on August 12, 1932, in Provo, Utah, to Stella (née Harris) and Lloyd Edress Oaks. Through his mother, he is a second great-grandnephew to Martin Harris, one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon.<ref name="dispensation">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His given name, Dallin, honors Utah artist Cyrus Dallin. Oaks's mother had been Cyrus Dallin's model for The Pioneer Mother, a public statue in Springville, Utah.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Between ages 2 and 8, Oaks and his family lived in Twin Falls, Idaho.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>In the Hands of the Lord p. 6</ref>

In 1940, when Oaks was seven years old, his father died of tuberculosis at age 37.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 9-10</ref><ref name="dispensation" /><ref name="bergera">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref>"Prophets and Apostles: Dallin H. Oaks", churchofjesuschrist.org, retrieved September 3, 2014.</ref> After her husband's death, Stella suffered an episode of mental illness and was unable to attend school and work for a time.<ref name="leader">Template:Cite news</ref> During this time, Oaks and his two younger siblings (one of whom was his younger brother, Merrill Clayton Oaks) resided with their maternal grandparents in Payson, Utah. The loss of his father and the temporary loss of his mother caused him to have difficulties concentrating in school.<ref name="walker">Template:Cite news</ref> When he was about nine or ten years old, he resumed living with his mother, who had taken a position as a teacher in Vernal, Utah.<ref name="walker" /> Stella Oaks eventually pursued a graduate degree at Columbia University and later served as head of adult education for the Provo School District. In 1956, she became the first woman to sit on the Provo City Council,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> where she served for two terms.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In 1958, she also briefly served as Provo's assistant mayor.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

From about age ten to sixteen, Oaks and his younger brother and sister spent the school year in Vernal, Utah, and the summer in Payson, Utah, with their maternal grandparents while their mother Stella pursued her graduate degree at Columbia. During the school year, Stella was a high school teacher in Vernal.<ref>Turley. In The Hands of the Lord, p. 15-21</ref> Oaks obtained his first job at the age of twelve at a radio repair shop in Vernal sweeping the floors. He later worked as an engineer and announcer for stations in both Vernal (KJAM) and Provo (KCSU). He obtained his first-class radio operator license in the spring of 1948.<ref name="dispensation" /> Oaks was involved in Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle Scout at age fourteen.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord p. 20-21</ref>

During his first two years of high school, Oaks attended Uintah High School in Vernal, where he was a member of the school's football and debate teams and played oboe in the school band.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 19-21</ref> At the start of his eleventh-grade year, the family moved to Provo, where Oaks chose to attend Brigham Young High School (B.Y. High) because it was smaller than Provo High School. At B.Y. High, he was again involved in football,<ref name="dispensation" /><ref>Template:Citation</ref> track, and dramatic productions and played the oboe in the band.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 26</ref> Oaks graduated from B.Y. High in 1950.

Education

After high school, Oaks attended BYU, where he occasionally served as a radio announcer at high school basketball games. At one of these basketball games during his freshman year at BYU, he met June Dixon, a senior at the high school, whom he married during his junior year at BYU.<ref name="dispensation" /> Due to his membership in the Utah National Guard and the possibility of being called up to serve in the Korean War, Oaks did not serve as a full-time missionary for the LDS Church.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref>Wilkinson. BYU. pp. 13–14.</ref> In 1952, Oaks married Dixon in the Salt Lake Temple. He graduated from BYU in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in accounting with high honors.<ref name="rel" /><ref name=BYHigh>Template:Citation</ref>

Oaks then attended the University of Chicago Law School on a full-tuition National Honor Scholarship, where he was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref> He graduated in 1957 with a Juris Doctor, cum laude.<ref name="rel" />

Career

After graduating from law school in 1957, Oaks spent a year as a law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After his clerkship, he entered private practice at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where he specialized in corporate litigation.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref name="fed" /> Oaks had worked with this firm twice before, first during a summer in law school and then for a few months before he began his clerkship with Chief Justice Warren. When Oaks began at Kirkland & Ellis, he worked under Robert Bork, but he was quickly appointed as one of the firm's principal lawyers. He worked primarily on cases for clients Standard Oil of Indiana, B. F. Goodrich and Chemetron Corporation, but also assisted with cases for several other companies.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 71-73</ref> Initially, the Oaks family lived in the western suburbs of Chicago, but in 1960, they purchased a home in Elmhurst, Illinois. According to historian Lavina Fielding Anderson, Oaks was the first lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis to represent an indigent party before the Illinois Supreme Court.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This case was also the first time Oaks argued a case before an appellate court.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 75</ref>

In 1961, Oaks left Kirkland & Ellis and became a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.<ref>Wilkinson. BYU. Vol. 4, p. 20.</ref> During part of his time on the faculty of the Law School, Oaks served as interim dean. During this time, Rex E. Lee was among the students for whom he sought to obtain Supreme Court clerkships.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 87-88</ref> As a faculty member, Oaks taught primarily in the fields of trust and estate law, as well as gift taxation law. He worked with George Bogert on a new edition of a casebook on trusts. In 1963, Oaks edited a book entitled The Wall Between Church and State covering discussions on views on the relationship of the government and religion in the law and the aptness of that metaphor. He wrote an article on the school prayer cases aimed at a lay audience that was published in the LDS Church's Improvement Era in December 1963.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 92–93.</ref> He also wrote on issues of evidence exclusion and the Fourth Amendment.<ref>Bob Mims, "As Nelson’s longtime right-hand man, Oaks brings a keen legal mind to Mormonism’s new Big Three", Salt Lake Tribune, January 17, 2017</ref> He was opposed to the exclusionary rule and favored prosecution in "victim-less crimes".<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the summer of 1964, he served as assistant state's attorney for Cook County, Illinois. In the fall of 1964, Oaks was appointed a full professor at the University of Chicago law school.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 95</ref> While at the University of Chicago, Oaks was the faculty advisor to the legal aid clinic at that institution. He also worked to find ways to address the root issues facing the poor. He felt that federal anti-poverty programs of the time focused too much on symptoms and not enough on causes.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 99</ref> Oaks served as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School during the summer of 1968.<ref name="searle" /><ref>Scott Taylor. "A Look At President Dallin H. Oaks" Deseret News January 16, 2018</ref> In 1968, he became a founding member of the editorial board of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought; he resigned from the journal in early 1970.

In 1969, Oaks served as chairman of the University of Chicago disciplinary committee. In conducting hearings against the 160 students who had been involved in a sit-in at the administration building, Oaks was physically attacked twice. Over 100 students were eventually either suspended or expelled.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref>Wilkinson. BYU. Vol. 4, pp. 20–22.</ref> During the first half of 1970, Oaks took a leave of absence from the University of Chicago while serving as legal counsel to the Bill of Rights Committee of the Illinois Constitutional Convention, which caused him to work closely with the committee chair, Elmer Gertz.<ref>Wilkinson. BYU. Vol. 4, pp. 22–23.</ref> From 1970 to 1971, Oaks served as the executive director of the American Bar Foundation.<ref>Taylor, "Oaks", Deseret News January 16, 2018</ref> Oaks left the University of Chicago Law School when he was appointed the president of BYU in 1971. In 1975, Oaks was one of eleven candidates considered to be nominated for the vacancy in the United States Supreme Court.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

Oaks served for five years as chairman of the board of directors of the Public Broadcasting Service<ref name=BYHigh/> (1979–84)<ref name = ensignbio>Template:Cite news</ref> and eight years as chairman of the board of directors of the Polynesian Cultural Center.<ref name=BYHigh/> Additionally, over the course of his career, Oaks served as a director of the Union Pacific Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

BYU president

After the resignation of Ernest L. Wilkinson as BYU's seventh president, Neal A. Maxwell, who was the commissioner of the Church Educational System, created a search committee for a new president, without any specific candidates in mind. Both Wilkinson and University of Utah Vice President Jerry R. Anderson recommended to Maxwell that Oaks be interviewed.<ref name="one">Template:Cite book</ref> He was offered the position and assumed his duties on August 1, 1971.<ref name="one" />Template:Rp From 1971 to 1980, Oaks served as BYU's eighth president.<ref name=BYHigh/> Oaks oversaw the creation of the J. Reuben Clark Law School and the Graduate Business School. Bruce C. Hafen was Oaks's primary assistant in the process of setting up the law school.<ref name="Lord p. 130">In the Hands of the Lord, p. 130</ref>

Although university enrollment continued to grow and new buildings were added, neither was done at the pace of the previous administration. Unlike his predecessor, Oaks took a hands-off approach to the discipline of the university students specifically in relation to the Church Educational System Honor Code. He believed that disciplinary matters should be delegated to the dean of students.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Oaks was well-liked and became a popular president, standing in contrast with the austerity of the Wilkinson administration.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Oaks created a Faculty Advisory Council where faculty members could be elected to the committee. He also instituted a three-tiered system of general education examinations for undergraduates.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

When Oaks took office as BYU president, he retained Robert K. Thomas as academic vice president and Ben E. Lewis as executive vice president, the same positions they had held under Wilkinson. Early in his administration, Oaks sought to delegate more authority to deans and department chairs. He also worked to create standardized lines of authority within the university.<ref name="Lord p. 130"/>

Other major changes under Oaks included implementing a three-semester plan with full fall and winter semesters, and a split spring and summer term. This also shifted the end of the fall term to before Christmas. Oaks also oversaw a large-scale celebration of the BYU centennial.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> During his tenure at BYU, enrollment grew twenty percent; the average class size was maintained at thirty-four students. Library holdings increased to 2 million and the number of faculty members with doctorate degrees increased to 22 percent. The number of buildings constructed per year decreased to eight per year, compared to eleven per year during Wilkinson's administration.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Church appropriations increased from $19.5 million to $76 million, making up approximately one-third of the university's income. Spending increased from $60 million to $240 million. Under the realization that faculty salaries were considerably low compared to other colleges in the western United States, BYU periodically increased the salary of employees, particularly female employees. Even with the raising of salaries, BYU faculty salaries were still about $1,000 less than other universities and colleges in the region.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp University income was bolstered by donations and fund-raising. In the mid-1960s, the university decided to name buildings after people who donated more than $500,000 to the university.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp The first building constructed entirely from private donations was the N. Eldon Tanner Building.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

During his administration, Oaks focused on the equal treatment of women in the workplace. BYU instituted affirmative action policies to hire more women and worked to equalize salaries of male and female employees. Despite these reforms, the number of female full professors at BYU was almost unchanged after his presidency, and BYU was behind other universities in the United States in the number of female employees by five percent.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Oaks established an ad hoc committee over women's affairs to investigate gender discrimination at BYU. In 1975, BYU instituted policies prohibiting unfair distribution of church-sponsored scholarships based on gender.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp While at BYU, Oaks led an effort to fight the application of Title IX to non-educational programs at schools that did not accept direct government aid, in an effort to prevent the legislation being used to force BYU to implement mixed-gender student housing. BYU was one of two initial schools to voice opposition to these policies.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> This issue ultimately ended in an agreement between the U.S. Department of Education and BYU that allowed BYU to retain requirements that all unmarried students live in gender-specific housing whether they lived on or off campus.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Oaks was an opponent of federal government intrusion in the private education sector and served as president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities for three years.<ref name="searle" /><ref name="dictionary">Template:Cite book</ref>

His administration dealt with multiple attempts by the federal government to exert control over BYU. In 1975, what was then the U.S. Department of Housing, Education and Welfare, tried an unsuccessful attempt to state that BYU's honor code was in some way discriminatory based on sex. The next year, the Justice Department tried to exert pressure against small landlords to no longer uphold BYU's sex-separated housing standard, but ultimately BYU also prevailed in the dispute. In 1979, the Internal Revenue Service tried to force BYU to disclose names of its donors on the contention that they were over-valuing the worth of their donations to BYU. This case went to federal court where it was ruled that the demand was unjustified.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 142-145</ref>

During his presidency, he co-authored Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith with BYU professor of history Marvin S. Hill. The book received the Mormon History Association Best Book prize in 1976.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

As president of BYU, Oaks became known for his moderate personal views, which largely contrasted with the ultra-conservative views of his predecessor, Wilkinson. Oaks struggled throughout his presidency to distance BYU and the LDS Church from the partisan political atmosphere that had prevailed under Wilkinson. Oaks established policies intended to prevent BYU administrators from participating in partisan politics.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp In particular, he worked to counteract the political tensions brought to BYU by the appointment of W. Cleon Skousen, a fiery anti-communist and known conspiracy theorist who had been hired as a BYU religion professor under Wilkinson. Other professors in the religion department were strongly critical of Skousen's hiring, believing that he was unqualified and had been hired only because of his conservative political views. During the Oaks administration, Skousen claimed to have been authorized to teach a new course about "Priesthood and Righteous Government", which would be published clandestinely under the name "Gospel Principles and Practices". This course was targeted toward informing ultra-conservative students of what to do about alleged communist infiltration at BYU. Upon learning of Skousen's intentions, Oaks informed the First Presidency that he would not be permitted to teach that course.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Skousen was ordered to stop mixing church doctrine and politics and to stop activities associated with his political-educational organization, the "Freeman Institute", which is now known as the National Center for Constitutional Studies. However, he substantially ignored these instructions and continued teaching his politically infused version of church doctrine until his retirement from BYU in 1978.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

By the mid-1970s, the relationship between Oaks and some of the more conservative members of the board of trustees became strained, particularly with Ezra Taft Benson, who then served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. During Oaks's tenure, Benson condemned the undergraduate economics textbooks in use for supporting "Keynesian" economics, and he expressed concerns as to whether faculty was teaching socialist economics.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Oaks was displeased upon learning that the College of Social Sciences had invited the leader of Utah's Communist party to speak to political science classes, believing that it could set an undesired precedent. Not long afterward, Oaks became upset when he learned that Benson had invited activist Phyllis Schlafy to address students despite her having been rejected by the speakers committee previously due to her "extreme" views.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Most prominently, Oaks fought against the hiring of conservative Richard Vetterli despite the fact that Wilkinson had promised to hire him prior to his resignation. Wilkinson lobbied Benson to facilitate Vetterli's appointment after leaving BYU, and Benson and the board of trustees approved his hiring despite Oaks's insistence that Vetterli was not qualified.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Soon afterward, Oaks was released as BYU president and Jeffrey R. Holland took his place. The press cited the stand-off between Benson and Oaks with regard to Vetterli as a contributing factor to Oaks's release.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp Oaks, on the other hand, stated that he was leaving because he was worn out from having run the institution for nine years.

When Oaks had been in office for six years, he wrote to the First Presidency to express that he had become close-minded in his position. He suggested that BYU establish a six- or seven-year term limit for its presidents. His proposal was tabled for more than two years before he was unexpectedly notified of his release by the news media. After serving for nine years, Oaks stepped down in August 1980. He was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court three months later.<ref name="bergera" />Template:Rp

Campus police spying controversy

Before and during Oaks's time as president of BYU, campus police routinely used undercover agents and a polygraph to investigate honor code violations.<ref name=Quinn1997>Quinn, D. Michael (1997). The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. pp. 568–569</ref> In 1975, the university began a program to reduce the number of alleged homosexuals on campus, which included interrogating men in fine arts and drama programs, taking down license plates at gay bars and cross-referencing them with student license plates, and "searches of dorms and other student housing units [which took] place without bona fide search warrants."<ref name=Quinn1997 /> When asked about the program by reporters, Oaks acknowledged the activities in general terms.<ref name=Quinn1997 /> BYU public relations stated that the program ended once Oaks became aware of its existence.<ref>“Brigham Young U. Admits Stakeouts on Homosexuals,” New York Times, September 27, 1979, A-16;</ref><ref name=Quinn1997 />

Utah Supreme Court

Upon leaving BYU, Oaks was appointed as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court on January 1, 1981, by Utah governor Scott M. Matheson.<ref name="walker" /><ref name="searle" /> He served in this capacity from 1980 to 1984, when he resigned after being appointed by the LDS Church as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.<ref name=BYHigh/> In 1975, Oaks was listed by U.S. attorney general Edward H. Levi among potential Gerald Ford Supreme Court candidates, but Ford "crossed Oaks's name off the list early on, noting in the margin that a member of the LDS Church might bring a 'confirmation fight'"<ref name="auto"/> In 1981, he was closely considered by the Ronald Reagan administration as a Supreme Court nominee.<ref name="auto1"/>Template:Efn

Scholarly research and notable opinions

Template:Primary sources section As a law professor, Oaks focused his scholarly research on the writ of habeas corpus and the exclusionary rule. In California v. Minjares,<ref>443 U.S. 916 (1979).</ref> Justice William H. Rehnquist, in a dissenting opinion, wrote "[t]he most comprehensive study on the exclusionary rule is probably that done by Dallin Oaks for the American Bar Foundation in 1970.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to this article, it is an open question whether the exclusionary rule deters the police from violating Fourth Amendment protections of individuals.<ref>Dallin H. Oaks, "Studying the Exclusionary Rule in Search and Seizure", 37 University of Chicago Law Review 665 (1970).</ref>

Oaks also undertook a legal analysis of the Nauvoo City Council's actions against the Nauvoo Expositor. He opined that while the destruction of the Expositor's printing press was legally questionable, under the law of the time the newspaper certainly could have been declared libelous and therefore a public nuisance by the Nauvoo City Council. As a result, Oaks concludes that while under contemporaneous law it would have been legally permissible for city officials to destroy, or "abate", the actual printed newspapers, the destruction of the printing press itself was probably outside of the council's legal authority, and its owners could have sued for damages.<ref>Oaks, Dallin H. "The Suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor." Utah Law Review 9 (Winter 1965):862–903.</ref>

As a Utah Supreme Court justice from 1980 to 1984, Oaks authored opinions on a variety of topics. In In Re J. P.,<ref>648 P.2d 1364 (Utah 1982).</ref> a proceeding was instituted on a petition of the Division of Family Services to terminate parental rights of child J.P.'s natural mother. Oaks wrote that a parent has a fundamental right protected by the Constitution to sustain their relationship with their child but that a parent can nevertheless be deprived of parental rights upon a showing of unfitness, abandonment, and substantial neglect.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In KUTV, Inc. v. Conder,<ref>668 P.2d 513 (Utah 1983).</ref> media representatives sought review by appeal and by a writ of prohibition of an order barring the media from using the words "Sugarhouse rapist" or disseminating any information on past convictions of the defendant during the pendency of a criminal trial. Oaks, in the opinion delivered by the court, held that the order barring the media from using the words "Sugarhouse rapist" or disseminating any information on past convictions of defendant during the pendency of the criminal trial was invalid on the ground that it was not accompanied by the procedural formalities required for the issuance of such an order.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In Wells v. Children's Aid Soc. of Utah,<ref>681 P.2d 199 (Utah 1984).</ref> an unwed minor father brought action through a guardian ad litem seeking custody of a newborn child that had been released to the state adoption agency and subsequently to adoptive parents after the father had failed to make timely filing of his acknowledgment of paternity as required by statute. Oaks, writing the opinion for the court, held that the statute specifying the procedure for terminating parental rights of unwed fathers was constitutional under due process clause of the United States Constitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Among works edited by Oaks is a collection of essays entitled The Wall Between Church and State. Since becoming an apostle, Oaks has consistently spoken in favor of religious freedom and warned that it is under threat.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> He testified as an official representative of the LDS Church on behalf of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act during congressional hearings in 1991,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and then in 1998 in favor of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> This was one of few occasions on which the church has sent a representative to testify on behalf of a bill before the U.S. Congress.<ref name="subcommittee">Template:Citation</ref>Template:Efn

LDS Church service

While a law student, Oaks served as an elders quorum president in his ward in Chicago. After he returned to the Chicago metro area after clerking for Justice Warren, Oaks was a counselor in his ward Sunday School presidency starting in 1959. He also was a counselor in the presidency of the Chicago Stake genealogical organization.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 77.</ref> He was then called as a stake missionary and counselor in the stake mission presidency, a set of positions at the time that required him to spend about forty hours per month proselytizing.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 78.</ref>

In 1962, Oaks served as the stake mission president in the church's Chicago Illinois Stake. He was set apart to this position by Boyd K. Packer, who was then an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 80</ref>

In 1963, he served as second counselor in the presidency of the newly created Chicago Illinois South Stake. He was set apart to this office by Howard W. Hunter.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord p. 90</ref> He later served briefly as the first counselor in the same stake in 1970 but was released when he was appointed as BYU's president and moved to Utah.<ref name="searle">Template:Cite news</ref>

During part of his time as BYU president, Oaks served as a regional representative, assigned to oversee some of the stakes in the Salt Lake Valley. After leaving BYU, Oaks conducted research and other assignments for the church's special affairs committee, headed by Gordon B. Hinckley, and overseeing public relations, government relations, and related matters.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord, p. 137-138</ref>

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

On April 7, 1984, during the Saturday morning session of the LDS Church's general conference, Oaks was sustained as an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve. In addition to advisory and operational duties, as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Oaks is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator.<ref name="rel">Template:Citation</ref>

Although sustained on April 7, Oaks was not ordained an apostle until May 3, 1984.<ref name="rel" /> He was given this time between sustaining and ordination to complete his judicial commitments.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> Of the shift from judge to apostolic witness, Oaks commented, "Many years ago, Thomas Jefferson coined the metaphor, 'the wall between church and state.' I have heard the summons from the other side of the wall. I'm busy making the transition from one side of the wall to the other."<ref name = ensignbio/> At age 51, he was the youngest apostle in the quorum at the time and the youngest man to be called to the quorum since Boyd K. Packer, who was called in 1970 at age 45.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 1985 to 2000, and again from 2005 to 2010, Oaks served as one of the advisors to the church's history department, where he served with Russell M. Nelson in this assignment during the latter time period. For several years Oaks was also closely involved with the church's public relations operations.

Oaks has spoken on behalf of the LDS Church on political issues, primarily those affecting religious liberty. In 1992, he testified before committees in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives on the proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), arguing that it would be a step in the right direction in maintaining protection of religious liberty after the precedent set by Employment Division v. Smith (1990).<ref name="rel" />Template:Rp Oaks spoke again after the law had passed in 1993 and had subsequently been ruled unconstitutional a few years later.<ref name="rel" />Template:Rp

In 1989, Oaks traveled to India to dedicate that country for the preaching of the gospel.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord</ref>Template:Better source needed

From 2002 to 2004, Oaks presided over the church's Philippines Area. Responsibility for presiding over such areas is generally delegated to members of the Quorums of the Seventy. The assignment of Oaks, along with Jeffrey R. Holland, who served in Chile at the same time, was aimed at addressing challenges in developing areas of the church, including rapid growth in membership, focus on retention of new converts, and training local leadership.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During his first year as president, Oaks and his counselors, Angel Abrea and Richard J. Maynes, focused on three main goals: teaching doctrine and building faith, shifting efforts towards retention, and establishing programs of activity for youth.<ref>In the Hands of the Lord p. 268</ref>

On February 26, 2010, Oaks addressed students at the annual Mormonism 101 Series convened at Harvard Law School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In April 2015, included as part of an assignment to tour Argentina, Oaks gave a speech on religious freedom to the Argentine Council for International Relations.<ref>Jason Swensen, "Elder Oaks warns of rising secularism, champions religious freedom" Template:Webarchive, Church News, April 23, 2015.</ref>

Among other assignments, Oaks has served as the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees (CES Board), including as chairman of its executive committee.

Counselor in the First Presidency

In January 2018, Russell M. Nelson became the church's new president. As the apostle second in seniority to Nelson, Oaks became president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. However, since Oaks was appointed as Nelson's first counselor in the First Presidency, M. Russell Ballard was appointed as the quorum's acting president.<ref name="bio">Template:Cite web</ref> As first counselor in the First Presidency, Oaks served as first vice chairman of the CES Board.<ref name="ces">Template:Cite web</ref>

On June 1, 2018, Oaks gave the opening address at the First Presidency-sponsored "Be One" event, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the revelation extending the priesthood and access to temple ordinances, such as the endowment and sealing, to all worthy males, regardless of race. Oaks spoke of seeing the hurt that the restriction had caused, more so while he was a resident of Washington, D.C., and Chicago than he had seen in Utah. He also spoke of how the announcement had been a very emotional time for him. He noted that, prior to the 1978 announcement, having studied many explanations for the priesthood restriction, he concluded that he was not satisfied that any offered explanation for the restriction was inspired. Oaks called on people to not dwell too deeply on past policies but to look forward to a brighter future. He also denounced any prejudices, be they racial, ethnic, economic, or others and called on anyone who held such beliefs to repent.<ref>Tad Walch, "President Oaks acknowledges pain of past LDS restriction on priesthood, temple blessings for blacks", Deseret News, June 1, 2018.</ref>

In October 2020, Oaks gave a talk at general conference in which he encouraged civility and denounced racism.<ref>Associated Press, "Mormon Leaders Call for End to Racism, Protest Violence", U.S. News & World Report, October 3, 2020.</ref> On October 27, 2020, he gave a BYU devotional address in which he again touched on this topic, explicitly endorsing the message "Black Lives Matter" while also discouraging its use to advance controversial propositions.<ref>Peggy Fletcher Stack, "Black lives matter, LDS leader Dallin Oaks tells BYU audience, and is a cause all should support", Salt Lake Tribune, October 27, 2020.</ref><ref>Tad Walsh, "Latter-day Saint leader tells BYU audience to 'heed our prophet’s call' to end racism", Deseret News, October 27, 2020.</ref><ref>Spencer Burt, "'Black lives matter' is an 'eternal truth': Latter-day Saint leader addresses race issues among other current topics in BYU devotional", fox13now.com, October 27, 2020.</ref> In May 2022, Oaks delivered a eulogy at the funeral service of former Senator Orrin Hatch.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Church president

On October 14, 2025, Oaks was appointed as the church's 18th president, following the death of Russell M. Nelson.<ref name=NYTselect>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=msn>Template:Cite web</ref> Oaks selected Henry B. Eyring as First Counselor and D. Todd Christofferson as Second Counselor in the newly reconstituted First Presidency.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A number of scholars reacted to the announcement. Historian Benjamin Park said, "President Oaks has been one of the most influential and consequential LDS apostles for quite some time, so I expect his presidency to be a culmination of trends already in motion rather than a redirection."<ref name="SLT1">Template:Cite news</ref> Historian Patrick Q. Mason said, "Unity is a top priority for Oaks and other senior church leaders. They will do everything they can to prevent schisms of various sorts in the church."<ref name="SLT1" /> Religion scholar Taylor G. Petrey said:

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Awards and honors

Oaks earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1947,<ref name="scouting.org">Template:Cite web</ref> and he was honored with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1984.<ref name="scouting.org"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was named "Judge of the Year" by the Utah State Bar in 1984.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oaks received an honorary degree from Southern Utah University in 1991.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> And, he was bestowed the Lee Lieberman Otis Award for Distinguished Service by the Federalist Society in 2012.<ref name="fed">Template:Cite news</ref> He received the Canterbury Medal from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in 2013,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and he received the Pillar of the Valley Award by Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, he was honored by America's Freedom Festival for his lifetime of work promoting the values of God, family, freedom, and country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oaks was named an honorary board member of the World Congress of Families.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Students at the University of Chicago Law School created the Dallin H. Oaks Society to "increase awareness within the law school community of the presence, beliefs, and concerns of law students who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints".<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Family

Oaks married June Dixon (born 1933) on June 24, 1952. She died from cancer on July 21, 1998. They had six children, including Dallin D. Oaks, a linguistics professor at BYU,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and Jenny Oaks Baker, a violinist.<ref name="dispensation" /> Their last child, Jenny, was born thirteen years after their fifth child.<ref>Walker "Oaks", Deseret News, April 1984</ref>

On August 25, 2000, Oaks married Kristen Meredith McMain in the Salt Lake Temple.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> McMain was in her early fifties, and it was her first marriage; she had previously served a mission for the LDS Church in the Japan Sendai Mission. McMain has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Utah, and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from BYU.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>